Dick Lavine focuses on building state and local revenue systems that meet Texans’ needs. Before coming to Every Texan in 1994, he was a Senior Researcher at the House Research Organization of the Texas House of Representatives for ten years. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Trustee of the City of Austin Employees Retirement System. He served for many years as a member and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Travis Central Appraisal District and was recently returned to the Board by the voters of Travis County to fill a newly created elective position. He is also a member of the Executive Board of AFSCME Texas Retirees, the statewide union local of retired public employees, and the Board of Directors of Progress Texas Institute, a progressive media organization. The Equity Center named him as a Champion for Equity for his work to reform our tax system to ensure it can adequately support public education and other public services. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1969, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1975.
Policy areas: State & Local Revenue, Economic Incentives
Where to find me during session: Inside the Capitol, usually on a bench near the Central Court
My surprising hobby: Photography
The Texas public school finance system is due for some renovations. And we need raw material to get the job done. As the Texas Public School Finance Commission debates changes
Lawmakers at the Capitol have been pushing an extremely dangerous idea for some time now that would replace property taxes with higher sales taxes in our state. This would give
The tax bill currently making its way through Congress would make it more difficult for Texas and our local governments to provide the public services that we all need. Under
Like the House’s tax proposal, the U.S. Senate plan released this week would give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts to wealthy households and major corporations at the
This Saturday the Texas House will take up Senate Bill 1, a dangerous bill that would limit the ability of local governments to raise the revenue needed to pay for public
This post was updated on July 31, 2017. The Senate last week passed Senate Bill 1 by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a dangerous bill that would limit the ability of local
Increase state support to public schools. The Texas Legislature is again threatening to interfere with local communities by limiting the ability of local governments to raise the revenue they need
This post was updated on 5/17/17. Texas local governments – cities, counties, community colleges and hospital districts – provide vital services to their constituents. Locally elected officials decide how to
Why talk about the 2020-21 Texas state budget when lawmakers are still deciding the 2018-19 budget? It’s because the decisions our state leaders make now will have dramatic effects on
You would think that, having just written proposed state budgets that would underfund or cut health care, financial aid, and more, the Texas Legislature would want to avoid similar tight
